But nothing happens!

British lawyer convicted of shielding Berlusconi
By Rachel Donadio Published: February 17, 2009

Source:Iht

ROME: In one of the most high-profile Italian corruption trials, a British lawyer was found guilty Tuesday for lying under oath to protect Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

A Milan court sentenced David Mills to four years and six months in prison for taking $600,000 in 2000 in exchange for providing favorable testimony in two trials against Berlusconi in the late 1990s.

Mills was not present for the sentencing. In a statement issued by a London public relations firm, he said he would appeal the decision. "I am innocent, but this is a highly political case," he said.

Berlusconi, 72, was a co-defendant in the case until last year, when Parliament passed a law granting Italy's top political officials immunity from prosecution.

Under Italian law, Mills will not be sent to prison until the case goes through two more levels of appeals. It remains to be seen whether the appeals process will take place before 2010, when the statute of limitations in the case runs out.

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In December, prosecutors asked that Mills be sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for providing false testimony in trials in 1997 and 1998 relating to off-shore companies that Mills helped set up in the '90s for Berlusconi's holding company Fininvest.

Milan prosecutors began investigating Mills in 2004 after a tip-off from the authorities in London, where Mills's tax accountant had come forward with concerns about potential improper use of funds.

In 2004, Mills wrote to his accountant, Bob Drennan, concerned about the tax status of a payment from Berlusconi.

In a letter to Drennan, Mills wrote: "I told no lies, but I turned some very tricky corners, to put it mildly, and so kept Mr B. out of a great deal of trouble he would have been in had I said all I knew," according to a copy of the letter posted on the Web site of the British newspaper The Guardian.

The accuracy of the letter posted online was confirmed by prosecutors.

In July 2004, Mills told Milan prosecutors that the letter was accurate, and that he had received $600,000 from Berlusconi in recognition for providing favorable testimony.

But later that year, Mills retracted his statement.

In a statement to the court last month, Mills apologized to Berlusconi and said he had never been corrupted.

Berlusconi has been convicted of corruption several times, only to see the charges overturned on appeal. He has repeatedly accused the judiciary of unjustly targeting him.

Berlusconi has also tried unsuccessfully to have the judge hearing the Mills case, Nicoletta Gandus, removed, saying that she is politically motivated.

On Tuesday, Berlusconi's lawyer, Niccolò Ghedini, called Gandus "a member of the far left" and said the ruling was "fanciful" and not supported by the evidence.

Mills is the estranged husband of Britain's Olympics minister, Tessa Jowell, who in a statement issued by her office Tuesday said: "This is a terrible blow to David, and although we are separated I have never doubted his innocence."

Under Italian law, the court has three months to issue its reasoning.

In a statement, Mills said, "The judges have not yet given their reasons for their decision, so I cannot say how they dealt with the prosecutor's own admission that he had no proof."

The prosecutor in the Mills trial, Fabio de Pasquale, has challenged the legality of the law granting Berlusconi immunity. The Italian Constitutional Court has not yet ruled on the matter.